Beachcomber

The Green Bus Line fell short on several performance standards recently, according to the latest New York City inspection reports. The Green Bus Line failed to meet the city standards in on-time performance, curbside service, announcements and handicapped seating signs.

Things were hopping for emergency responders on the peninsula on Friday a week ago, what with an all-hands fire in Bayswater, a man hit by a car on Beach 114 Street and a call for a floater in the ocean off Beach 116 Street. The last proved to be unfounded.

There are those who believe that Lew Simon should not lead protests against the residence of those who run the Golden Video store on Beach 116 Street. Picket the store, they say, but not the home address.

The Broad Channel Volunteers spent much of Saturday morning fighting a brush fire that was tough to get to because it was between the subway tracks and the bay off West Road. NYFD joined with the volies to knock the fire down.

With the coming of summer, the mosquito problem in Arverne, Edgemere and Bayswater is once again being pushed to the front burner. At the end of last year, the city introduced a "mosquito magnet" to the war on the insects, and residents told us that it had a good effect. Perhaps the city should bring a massive number of the machines to the affected areas.

Both of our Assemblypersons, Audrey Pheffer and Pauline Cummings, sent a letter to Speaker Sheldon Silver, asking that the body secure state funding to subsidize the planned commuter ferry service from Rockaway to Manhattan. Those who know believe that the outcome of the issue rests more on mayoral politics than it does on the needs of Rockaway commuters.

Ideas are flooding in for a sports complex in Floyd Bennett Field. Most of those who commented want an Olympic-size swimming pool as part of the plan. Others want horseback riding facilities. Still others want a basketball arena that could be used for championship tournaments for high school, college and local teams. One man even wants a ski slope made with artificial snow (shades of Technodome). Few, however, seem opposed to the idea of a private sports complex in the public park.

By the time the primary election comes and it is time to choose a Democratic candidate for either City Council or Borough President, there may well be a dozen candidates to pick from in each race. That is what happens when an incumbent cannot run and wannabes smell the blood.

It is unfortunate that neither the Port Authority nor JFK airport nor anybody else around here has a say in whether the Concorde should fly into that airport ever again. The question is entirely up to the airlines that fly the plane and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) that has to certify the plane as safe.

With all the commercial changes coming to Beach 116 Street, residents look forward to a friendlier parking condition this summer than last, when those who parked at the curb, even for a minute or two, were immediately ticketed.